Biography Cohen has described a troublesome childhood and abusive home life that he purports to be the cause of his homosexuality later in life. While attending Boston University he became an evangelical Christian and later joined the Unification Church, where he said, he remained celibate for long periods.[1] The Unification Church rejects homosexual behavior.[7] In 1982 Cohen married Jae Sook, a South Korean woman suggested to him by church leader Sun Myung Moon. Cohen says that during the first three years of his marriage he spent time “running around” with a boyfriend in New York.[1][8] Cohen describes this time as a period of turmoil that led him to pursue healing from his past.[9] [edit]Education Cohen received a counseling psychology master’s degree from Antioch University.[1] [edit]Career [edit]International Healing Foundation According to Cohen he works under the auspices of the International Healing Foundation, a nonprofit and tax-exempt organization founded by him in 1990 to treat same-sex attraction.[1] He is not licensed as a therapist. Cohen avoids state licensing requirements by asking for donations to his foundation instead of payment.[1] [edit]Expulsion from the ACA In 2002 Cohen was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association, after it accused him of six violations of its ethics code, which bars members from actions which “seek to meet their personal needs at the expense of clients, those that exploit the trust and dependency of clients, and for soliciting testimonials or promoting products in a deceptive manner.”[1][10] Cohen stated the expulsion was for his efforts in the ex-gay movement, specifically for the book Coming Out Straight, and for one complaint. He did not appeal, and joined others in calling the ACA “a biased organization”[11] and “gay-affirming club”.[1] After his expulsion, Cohen is not currently certified or licensed to be a clinician or psychotherapist.[12] [edit]Media appearances Cohen later advanced his theories on Penn and Teller’s show Bullshit![13] and on Paula Zahn’s CNN program.[14] Cohen was then interviewed by Jason Jones on the March 19, 2007 episode of The Daily Show.[15] Cohen was on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on June 28, 2006,[16] and was interviewed on The Rachel Maddow Show on December 8, 2009,[17] and The Michelangelo Signorile Show on April 17, 2010 on the Sirius radio network. [edit]Theories regarding sexual orientation Cohen claims that repeated molestation by a male relative while he was a child caused him to identify as a homosexual as a result of learned behavior. He says that dealing with the psychological damage that resulted from the molestation allowed him to revert to his “natural heterosexuality.” He believes that all homosexuals are actually heterosexuals who can find peace and self esteem through healing and restoration of their natural heterosexuality. Cohen’s 2001 book Coming Out Straight calls homosexuality a “same-sex attachment disorder” and details his methods of sexual reorientation therapy, including his theory of the causes of same-sex attraction (among them, divorce, death of a loved one, and race[18]), his methods of changing sexual orientation, and stories of people who have undergone his therapies. Cohen describes the “hidden meanings” of same-sex attraction as: need for same-sex parent’s love need for gender identification fear of intimacy with the opposite sex[19] Though Cohen believes that one of the causes of homosexuality in men is the lack of bonding with the male parent, he does not believe that the cause of heterosexuality in males is due to the lack of bonding with the female parent, rather that heterosexuality is the “natural” condition of all people. Cohen uses a technique called bioenergetics.[1] Cohen also uses holding therapy, which involves physical touch and repeating affirming words to attempt to establish healthy, non-sexual bonding that may have been absent during childhood.[20] In Cohen’s Counselor training program manual he states that only opposite-sex attracted mentors or same-gender parents should give holding therapy, and quoting from his 2000 book Coming Out Straight that the mentor should not be the same person as the therapist.[21] Cohen has said, “If someone wants to live a gay life, that needs to be respected. If someone wants to change and come out straight, that too needs to be respected. Let us practice true tolerance, real diversity, and equality for all.”[2] [edit]Books written Cohen, Richard A; Elizabeth Sherman. Alfie’s Home (1993) ISBN 0-9637058-0-6, self-published.[22] Cohen, Richard A; Laura Schlessinger. Coming Out Straight (2000) ISBN 1-886939-41-1, Oakhill Press, equity publisher.[23] Cohen, Richard. Gay Children, Straight Parents: A Plan for Family Healing (2007) ISBN 978-0-8308-3437-2, Inter-Varsity Press.[24]

“I’m a heterosexual and I want to give somebody hope. I want to say, ‘I did it, you can do it, too,’ ” said Richard A. Cohen, one of the best-known reparative therapists, who practices out of a book-lined office in his home in a modest Bowie neighborhood. Cohen, 52, identifies himself as a former homosexual. He lectures widely, has written three books and serves as president of Parents, Families and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX). Articulate and engaging, Cohen has the sinewy build and erect carriage of the dancer he once was. He has been married for nearly 23 years — an arranged marriage that he said was suggested by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon when he and his wife were members of the Unification Church, to which they belonged for 20 years. The couple has three children, two of them students at the University of Pennsylvania, and a happy marriage that Cohen said belies their turbulent early years. He has been exclusively heterosexual since 1987, he said, and no longer feels attracted to men, only to women. “I have a sense of great inner peace about who I am,” something Cohen said he is trying to help others achieve.